Today’s Greeter: Jeannie Gerulskis welcomed members to Bow Rotary and Springtime!
Attendance:
40 Bow Rotarians
1 Visiting Rotarian- Tom Morris
0 Guests
1 Guest speaker
Total of 42
Announcements:
Judy Goodnow mentioned that the leftover food from the car show went to the Emergency Housing organization. They were very appreciative.
Awards night is this Thursday 5:30 at the Baker Free Library.
Karen Wadsworth mentioned that the 1st Grade book reading is this Friday at the elementary school starting at 8:30. Those who signed up are responsible for finding substitutes if they can't make it.
The next Board Meeting is Monday, June 4th 6:00 pm at Judy Goodnow's house.
Dick Swett thanked the scholarship committee members. There were 8 applicants. All got scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $4,500. One was for someone already in college. 1 Dunbarton and 1 Hooksett student will receive scholarships. In total $20,000 was given out. They will be announced at the BHS awards night this Tuesday.
Sergeant at Arms:
Logo Fines: Jon Ruggles R&T Electric, Michelle Olivier MCSB
Late Fines; Ben Kiniry, Michelle Fortin (she may have been late from Interact, I'm not sure)
Happy Bucks:
Jeannie Richards was happy because both her brother-in-law and sister had cancer but are doing fine now.
Chris Parkinson had a whine but it must not have been much of a whine because I forgot what it was! Sorry Chris. I can put it in next week if you let me know what it was.
Dean Cascadden was happy because his 4th child graduated from UNH with a job, unlike his 3rd child who has no job and is traveling to SE Asia. He also paid for a Bow tennis logo fine for both the girls and boys tennis teams winning..
Steve DeStefano is happy that for about 5 weeks he will have his daughter and her family living with them. That means 6 people, 4 dogs and 2 cats!
Gerry Carrier is happy that the car show is over and again thanked everyone for all of their help in pulling it off.
Dick Swett said his baby graduated. SHe played tennis in college and now she has the honor of being on a team that has the opportunity to go to Wimbledon the rest of her life.
Rob Werner was happy that Dick Swett is replacing him for this Fridays book reading. Now the harassing from Karen will stop. He also just came back from Seattle and had just finished reading "The Boy in the Boat" so the trip meant more to him.
Raffle Winner: Sandy Eldredge - second time in a row winning, but again no joker. Isn't third time the charm?
Program: Linda Lorden announced our speaker, Nancy Paul, Executive Director of the Friends Program. Nancy has worked at various non-profit organizations for over 20 years. She moved up from Nashua to Concord with her husband and son in 2003.
Nancy first mentioned how nice it was to receive the leftover food from the car show.
A show of hands noted that many of our members are familiar with the Friends program and some are or have been board members in the past.
Then she went on to quickly explain the mission and programs:
The Mission:
The Friends Program strengthens communities by building relationships that empower people, encourage community service, and restore faith in the human spirit – “Building Relationships…Restoring Hope.”
The Programs:
The Friends Program manages four separate programs that serve a number of New Hampshire communities:
Emergency Housing – Our family shelter, located in the south end of Concord, can house 8 homeless families daily. In FY2017 we provided shelter to 80 people (29 families).
Foster Grandparents – Foster Grandparent volunteers (seniors) perform their service to children in Belknap, Carroll, Cheshire, Grafton, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, Strafford, and Sullivan Counties. In 2016, the Foster Grandparent Program placed 144 volunteers in schools, child care centers and after-school programs. These volunteers served 110,000 hours to support at-risk children with time, attention and care.
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) – RSVP volunteers provide a wide range of community services in Rockingham, Merrimack, Strafford, and Belknap Counties. In 2016, RSVP placed 500 volunteers in 134 non-profit and public agencies serving 68,300 hours to meet critical needs.
Youth Mentoring – Our volunteer mentors are making new friends and in doing so, provide hope and inspiration to at-risk youth in 10 communities in Merrimack County. In FY2017, we had 127 one-to-one matches, totaling 11,613 hours of support to at-risk youth.
Their programs fill the gaps that other organizations do not support. Nancy mentioned that then have 820 volunteers with 1,800 service hours annually. Even 1 hour a week mentoring a child helps. Volunteers are ages 17 to 92, helping people from birth to 102 years old. Though the exact statistics are hard to calculate about 4,000 people are directly helped. Indirectly helped is much higher. Their emergency shelters can house 8 families. All people must be clean of any drug use. This is the only family emergency shelter facility in all of Merrimack County. Funding is partially through the government and municipalities. More is being done through private foundations and grants plus individual giving. More is needed. Over the counter medications are always needed. Currently they have a shortage of dressers and wardrobes. If any opportunity to donate food arises again just call them to let them know it is coming.
If you have an upcoming Program assignment and are looking for potential speakers, you will find a listing of speakers interested in speaking at Bow Rotary here.
